Nevin Shapiro
Encyclopedia
Nevin Shapiro is a former University of Miami
football booster
who is currently imprisoned for orchestrating a $930 million Ponzi scheme
. According to interviews, he engaged in rampant violations
of NCAA rules over eight years as a booster for University of Miami athletes. Shapiro allegedly provided cash, goods, prostitutes, assorted favors and on one occasion, an abortion
to University of Miami football players, and even purchased a yacht on which sex parties with prostitutes were held.
. Shapiro, who is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, was a member of the school's basketball
and wrestling
teams. A year after he graduated his mother married Richard Armand Adam, who operated RAA International, a real estate loan company. Adam moved the family to Lighthouse Point and bought two yachts. In 1997 Adam was charged in Canada
with business fraud
, and was accused of stealing $6 million by collecting fees on loans that never materialized. Adam eventually served six years in Canadian prisons.
He promised investors they would make 10 to 26 percent commissions every month.
In 2003 his business grew very fast through connections with Sherwin Jarol in Chicago
, Craig Currie in New Jersey
, and Sydney "Jack" Williams who had real estate in Naples, Florida
, and Indianapolis
.
According to FBI Special Agent Gregory Yankow in a Federal Criminal Complaint dated April 20, 2010 (Case No. 10-8082), Shapiro "directed others to create and show to the investors documents fraudulently touting Capitol’s profitability. Those documents included: financial statements; profit and loss figures fraudulently representing that Capitol’s wholesale grocery business was generating tens of millions of dollars in annual sales; personal and business tax returns for Shapiro and Capitol also fraudulently reflecting those sales; and numerous invoices fraudulently reflecting transactions between Capitol and other companies in the wholesale grocery business."
According to the Criminal Complaint, Shapiro incurred "millions of dollars in debts resulting from illegal gambling on sporting events; more than $400,000 for floor seats to the Miami Heat professional basketball team; approximately $26,000 monthly for mortgage payments on his residence in Miami Beach which was recently appraised at approximately $5.3 million; approximately $7,250 monthly for payments on a$1.5 million dollar Riviera yacht; approximately $4,700 monthly for the lease of a Mercedes-Benz automobile;" and an undisclosed amount "for a pair of diamond-studded handcuffs, which he gifted to a prominent professional athlete."
The FBI reported that he had diverted $35 million for his personal use from 2005 to 2009. Shapiro allegedly rented his yacht to NBA stars Shaquille O'Neal
, Dwayne Wade, and Kevin Garnett
and pledged $150,000 to the University of Miami to have his name placed on the student lounge.
The scheme fell apart in November 2009 during the late-2000s recession, when Chicago real estate investor Sherwin Jarol sued to force him into involuntary bankruptcy after Shapiro had stopped making payments to his investors. More than 60 investors (largely from Naples, Indianapolis, and Chicago), including Barry Alvarez
, filed claims (Alvarez had $600,000 in the scheme).
In April 21, 2010 he was charged in New Jersey with securities fraud
and money laundering
.
On September 15, 2010, he pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark, New Jersey
in U.S. v. Shapiro, 10-cr-00471 to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering. On June 7, 2011, he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to make $82,657,362.29 in restitution. He is currently serving time at United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
(inmate #61311-050).
The civil case in Miami is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Shapiro, 10-cv-21281.
Shapiro was reported to have spent $2 million from 2002 to 2010 boosting Miami sports -- primarily football -- but also including contact with the basketball team under Frank Haith
.
In 2002 he paid $1.5 million for 30 percent in a sports management company called Axcess Sports, which had been started by Michael Huyghue
. The agency signed several Hurricanes including Vince Wilfork
.
On August 16, 2011 in a jailhouse interview with Yahoo Sports writer Charles Robinson (conducted over 100 hours), Shapiro made good on the promise for the revelations exposing a lack of NCAA-mandated institutional oversight at the university which apparently allowed his illegal and unethical behaviors to continue unimpeded for years. Thus far 72 athletes are alleged by Shapiro to have received "impermissible" benefits from him between 2002 and 2010. The players include Vince Wilfork
, Jon Beason
, Antrel Rolle
, Devin Hester
, Willis McGahee
and Sean Taylor
. Sports publications have speculated that if the claims are true, the NCAA could impose the death penalty on the Miami football program.
Photos in the Yahoo article showed him with Kellen Winslow Jr.
in the VIP section of the Opium Garden Nightclub in 2005; Shapiro with Haith and University of Miami President Donna Shalala
in 2008 as he donated $50,000 to the basketball program; and with Vince Wilfork in 2002.
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
football booster
Booster club
A booster club is an organization that is formed to support an associated club, sports team, or organization. Booster clubs are popular in American schools at the high school and university level...
who is currently imprisoned for orchestrating a $930 million Ponzi scheme
Ponzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation...
. According to interviews, he engaged in rampant violations
2011 University of Miami athletics scandal
In 2011, the University of Miami Hurricanes football and men's basketball programs were investigated for NCAA rules violations alleged to have taken place from 2002 to 2010, centering around improper benefits given by booster Nevin Shapiro, and reported by investigative reporters at Yahoo!...
of NCAA rules over eight years as a booster for University of Miami athletes. Shapiro allegedly provided cash, goods, prostitutes, assorted favors and on one occasion, an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
to University of Miami football players, and even purchased a yacht on which sex parties with prostitutes were held.
Early life
Shapiro was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved with his family to Florida at an early age. He graduated in 1986 from Miami Beach Senior High School in the same class as film director Brett RatnerBrett Ratner
Brett Ratner is an American film director, film producer and music video director. He is best known for directing the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist. He was also a producer on the Fox drama series, Prison Break.- Early life :Ratner was...
. Shapiro, who is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, was a member of the school's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
teams. A year after he graduated his mother married Richard Armand Adam, who operated RAA International, a real estate loan company. Adam moved the family to Lighthouse Point and bought two yachts. In 1997 Adam was charged in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
with business fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, and was accused of stealing $6 million by collecting fees on loans that never materialized. Adam eventually served six years in Canadian prisons.
Ponzi scheme
Shapiro subsequently started Capitol Investments USA, which he claimed bought wholesale groceries and shipped them to more expensive markets (although he subsequently said that he never actually sold the groceries). Shapiro's Ponzi scheme was based on attracting investors to Capitol Investments.He promised investors they would make 10 to 26 percent commissions every month.
In 2003 his business grew very fast through connections with Sherwin Jarol in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Craig Currie in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and Sydney "Jack" Williams who had real estate in Naples, Florida
Naples, Florida
Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 21,653. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 315,839 on July 1, 2007...
, and Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
.
According to FBI Special Agent Gregory Yankow in a Federal Criminal Complaint dated April 20, 2010 (Case No. 10-8082), Shapiro "directed others to create and show to the investors documents fraudulently touting Capitol’s profitability. Those documents included: financial statements; profit and loss figures fraudulently representing that Capitol’s wholesale grocery business was generating tens of millions of dollars in annual sales; personal and business tax returns for Shapiro and Capitol also fraudulently reflecting those sales; and numerous invoices fraudulently reflecting transactions between Capitol and other companies in the wholesale grocery business."
According to the Criminal Complaint, Shapiro incurred "millions of dollars in debts resulting from illegal gambling on sporting events; more than $400,000 for floor seats to the Miami Heat professional basketball team; approximately $26,000 monthly for mortgage payments on his residence in Miami Beach which was recently appraised at approximately $5.3 million; approximately $7,250 monthly for payments on a$1.5 million dollar Riviera yacht; approximately $4,700 monthly for the lease of a Mercedes-Benz automobile;" and an undisclosed amount "for a pair of diamond-studded handcuffs, which he gifted to a prominent professional athlete."
The FBI reported that he had diverted $35 million for his personal use from 2005 to 2009. Shapiro allegedly rented his yacht to NBA stars Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
, Dwayne Wade, and Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Maurice Garnett is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association . After a high school basketball career at Farragut Career Academy which included winning a national player of the year award, he...
and pledged $150,000 to the University of Miami to have his name placed on the student lounge.
The scheme fell apart in November 2009 during the late-2000s recession, when Chicago real estate investor Sherwin Jarol sued to force him into involuntary bankruptcy after Shapiro had stopped making payments to his investors. More than 60 investors (largely from Naples, Indianapolis, and Chicago), including Barry Alvarez
Barry Alvarez
Barry Alvarez is a former American football player and coach and currently the Director of Athletics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons from 1990 to 2005, compiling a career college football record of 118–73–4...
, filed claims (Alvarez had $600,000 in the scheme).
In April 21, 2010 he was charged in New Jersey with securities fraud
Securities fraud
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws....
and money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
.
On September 15, 2010, he pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
in U.S. v. Shapiro, 10-cr-00471 to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering. On June 7, 2011, he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to make $82,657,362.29 in restitution. He is currently serving time at United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
United States Penitentiary, Atlanta is a medium-security federal prison for men in Atlanta, Georgia. It also has a detention center for pre-trial and holdover inmates and an adjacent camp for minimum security male inmates...
(inmate #61311-050).
The civil case in Miami is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Shapiro, 10-cv-21281.
University of Miami scandal
In August 2010 Shapiro told the Miami Herald that he was writing a book The Real U: 2001 to 2010. Inside the Eye of the Hurricane in which he promised to tell how Miami had violated NCAA rules affecting more than 100 players. "Once the players turned pro, they turned their back on me. It made me feel like a used friend," he said.Shapiro was reported to have spent $2 million from 2002 to 2010 boosting Miami sports -- primarily football -- but also including contact with the basketball team under Frank Haith
Frank Haith
-Personal:Haith is a 1988 graduate of Elon College. He and his wife, Pam, have two children; one son, Corey, and one daughter, Brianna. Haith's nephew, Sean Bell, was slain by New York City police in a controversial November 25, 2006 shooting incident....
.
In 2002 he paid $1.5 million for 30 percent in a sports management company called Axcess Sports, which had been started by Michael Huyghue
Michael Huyghue
Michael L. Huyghue is a sports lawyer and businessman who is the current commissioner of the new United Football League, having served in that capacity since the league's founding in 2007. He was previously a member of the legal department of the NFL Players Association before joining the NFL...
. The agency signed several Hurricanes including Vince Wilfork
Vince Wilfork
-2004–06 seasons:The Patriots drafted Wilfork with the 21st overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. In his rookie 2004 season with the Patriots, he compiled two sacks, 42 tackles, and three deflected passes...
.
On August 16, 2011 in a jailhouse interview with Yahoo Sports writer Charles Robinson (conducted over 100 hours), Shapiro made good on the promise for the revelations exposing a lack of NCAA-mandated institutional oversight at the university which apparently allowed his illegal and unethical behaviors to continue unimpeded for years. Thus far 72 athletes are alleged by Shapiro to have received "impermissible" benefits from him between 2002 and 2010. The players include Vince Wilfork
Vince Wilfork
-2004–06 seasons:The Patriots drafted Wilfork with the 21st overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. In his rookie 2004 season with the Patriots, he compiled two sacks, 42 tackles, and three deflected passes...
, Jon Beason
Jon Beason
Jonathan Beason is an American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers 25th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami.-Early years:Beason attended Chaminade Madonna College...
, Antrel Rolle
Antrel Rolle
Antrel Rocelious Rolle is an American football safety for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami...
, Devin Hester
Devin Hester
Devin Hester is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League . He played college football at the University of Miami, where he became the first person in the university’s recent history to play in all three phases of American football...
, Willis McGahee
Willis McGahee
Willis Andrew McGahee III is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
and Sean Taylor
Sean Taylor
Sean Michael Maurice Taylor was an American football free safety who played for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. Taylor was drafted in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Redskins...
. Sports publications have speculated that if the claims are true, the NCAA could impose the death penalty on the Miami football program.
Photos in the Yahoo article showed him with Kellen Winslow Jr.
Kellen Winslow II
Kellen Boswell Winslow, II is an American football tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns sixth overall in the 2004 NFL Draft...
in the VIP section of the Opium Garden Nightclub in 2005; Shapiro with Haith and University of Miami President Donna Shalala
Donna Shalala
Donna Edna Shalala served for eight years as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and has been president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, since 2001. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest...
in 2008 as he donated $50,000 to the basketball program; and with Vince Wilfork in 2002.